Murray US Open 2011

Watching the Murray v Devvarman Match. Anyone else watching please feel free to add the action as it happens.

Must admit the Murray FH is annoying me. He plays it aggressively and then slows it down when the opponent is on the run. Just crash the f***ing ball will you!!

Devvarman builds on his break. Murray will have to up the tempo me thinks.

Very straightforward hold there by Murray 1-2. Now I would like to see him get that break back. If he is to define himself as a contender at this US Open he needs to just change gear. Not asking him to play lights out tennis, just raise the level and keep it there for the match.

I like the way Devverman is playing - pretty good at the net!

Devvarman is certainly hitting the net. Has to be careful not to go to that tactic too much as now doubt will get burnt by the CCBH of Murray's. Now I love that when Murray crunches the FH and brings a break point. Devvarman done well to recover the point at the net there. Murray hitting the ball a lot flatter now. I just wonder if Devvarman has it in the tank to keep this tempo up he is playing. 1-3 Devvarman.

Murray comes out and is now taking the ball on early. Like it. Bang bang. The FH is looking solid. Very straightforward hold there. 2-3.

Devvarman looking tight there on his service game. A DF brings up a break point and Murray fails to convert. Lovely BH down the line by Devvarman. A sloppy couple of points brings Murray another BP chance and again Andy plays another sloppy point. Murray plays 2 cracking returns and brings another BP chance and a DF hands it to him. Murray breaks 3-3.

Some cracking tennis being played here by both men.

Devvarman's quite a tricky player - good at varying the pace...

CaledonianCraig wrote:Some cracking tennis being played here by both men.

are there two Devvarman's out there?!

Josiah Maiestas wrote:

CaledonianCraig wrote:Some cracking tennis being played here by both men.

are there two Devvarman's out there?!

Could you take a day off being a prat?

You're wasting your time legendkillar.

Dev is the biggest pusher on the ATP.

There will be some record breaking rallies in this one.

Very sloppy game from Devvarman there. Don't think Murray will let him back into this set. C'mon Andy!

DelPo was fearesome today..

e may b awaitin Murray in da 1/4 finals.

Murray wraps up the 2nd set. He seems to have this match under control. There may be passages where Andy plays sloppy points, but he looks really comfortable out there.

Andy breaks in the 3rd. Devvarman looks flat on his feet.

It has been a very good match this. Highly enjoyable.

stats say that andy has produced a hair-chilling 28 winners?!
I demand a recount!!
2nd serve speed though, 84 mph, pfft

Couldn't serve it out first time round pffft

I agree, making heavy weather of closing this out. Hard to imagine that the top 3 would be this accommodating with the early round opposition.

Given it is the first round. I would love to see you guys actually pick up a racquet

Priesty wrote:I agree, making heavy weather of closing this out. Hard to imagine that the top 3 would be this accommodating with the early round opposition.

I'm guessing you didn't watch Fed or Nadal in their opening matches.

Fed was 5-2 up in the first set and failed to serve out twice.

Second set, he was up a break and again gave it back.

Rafa's woes have been well documented in another thread.

That was not bad from Murray. Dev is certainly not your dream first round opponent.
I suppose a perfect stern little match to get things started. I haven't seen Federer's match, but Nole & Murray look the biz.

Fed looked both sharp and sloppy at the same time, if that makes any sense.

His FH looked stronger and he hit some monster winners but was also wayward with it quite often.

His movement was sharp too.

His serve looked weak (got broken five times) but that may be due to the slower conditions.

No-one is going overboard at all with Murray's performance. He got the job done in 3 sets. He played some good shots and some bad ones. When it comes to the crunch against better players deeper into draw is when he has to play his best tennis.

Given that emancipator is the only poster who saw all 3 matches, and quite rightly pointed out that Feds, Nadal and Murray didn't play amazing tennis, but there were passages of play where they looked good and other passages when they didn't. Djokovic looks sharp, but it is always difficult to make a proper assessment given that his opponent retired. The top 4 through relatively un-scathed.

Has to be said the least impressive was Rafa as his opponent was ranked No.98 in the world and he dropped 14 games.

Djokovic you can't really judge due to his opponent's ill health but looked to be hitting the ball very well.

Federer dropped nine games against the world No.54 and had his faults.

Murray dropped eleven games (six of those in the first set) before beating the world No.64 so took his time to get going but once in his stride looked good.

However, no prizes are won in the first six matches - it is all about survival.

Andy, Rafa,Roger & Novak

The doubters (you know who you are)

very entertaining first set which was due in no small way to Devvarman's enterprise. Thought Andy was really hitting the ball so well - much better than I remember seeing him do in ages - some of those forehands were gorgeous, and he was striking the ball with great depth. I just wish, for his confidence in his first serve (and mine as well!) that he had served out the match, but that is a small niggle.

Looking good, as is Nole - crossed fingers, toes etc for both.

Thought Murray was pretty average for a set and a half, then stepped it up very nicely. His forehand became more aggressive, and he hit the ball better. Dev was always going to be a trickyish first round opponent because of his small error count. Murray didn't return particularly well, but will be happy to come through in straight sets.

I thought Murray played well. His FH did seem to have a lot of penetration when he swung freely. Dev is a tricky opponent. It was a first round match and a comfortable win for Andy.

If he continues to play well, he is my favourite to reach the final from this side of the draw. DelPo could be difficult but Andy's basically owned him uptill now.
I wouldn't be too worried about Rafa going by current form. Rafa cannot win the USO playing attritional tennis.

BTW, i'm not a huge Murray fan (neither do i dislike him) but he's obviously got as good a chance of winning this tournament as anyone not named Djokovic. He has a complete skillset but as many have already pointed out, he needs more consistency on his serve and FH.

Murray will beat Del Potro if they meet, he'll do what he always does, and that is keep the ball low and not allow Del P to crack his forehands (think lots and lots of slices). More worried about Nadal getting back to form TBH, and Wawrinka in R4 worries me even if he hasn't really won a match all year...

I agree, overall a very solid win for Murray. Rarely I saw him moving sharper, more motivated or hungrier to win. Even is FH actually seems to have gained more penetration and the first serve at 61% was working well.

You can say he has an easy walk up until the Del Potro match, which may well turn out to be the match of a lifetime for Murray. Once overcome this he could consider himself virtually with a bye to the semi final, and, with Fed and Nadal supposedly at a low point, with great chances to make a greater impact on this USO than he had in the past.

The big concern for Murray remains the match against JMDP that has all the potential to be an epic maybe a five setter with equal chances from both side to win.

Positives for Murray were the forehand looking great, his movement looking great and generating lots of power off both wings. I liked the way he started unleashing once he was comfortable, as I've always thought he expends too much energy in the early rounds and the more he can shorten sets the better.

Started a bit nervously, and had a bit of a dip when serving it out but it's the first round and you don't really want him peaking now anyway.

As for the DelPo match, it could be an epic depending on DelPo's form... But Murray has always handled his power fairly well by keeping the ball low and giving DelPo no pace. I think he's 5-1 up on the H2H. I'd say Murray would be a fairly big favourite for that match up.

I personally pay little attention to the form of Federer and Nadal, they are masters at turning their form around during a slam. Djokovic's shoulder seemed ok the other day too.

So good start for Murray, his game is looking in reasonable shape... Just hope his serve improves as he (hopefully) moves through the rounds. With Murray, his chances of success always hinge on the consistency of the serve.

I concur Danny - let's hope the serve holds up. When his first serve is firing he is the match of anyone and his confidence will flourish.

I too expect Murray to beat Delpo, not least because he will not underate him and will bring his full concentration to the encounter. Sometimes I fear for AM when he seems a little complacent, but he is unlikely to be so with JMDP